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Slow and steady

pepedopolous

Member
Joined
22 May 2011
Messages
678
Location
Prague, Czech Republic
This is my NA 125 litre completely re-done, with new substrate, rocks and plants. It's been running for about 3 weeks now and I've just returned the livestock to it from their smaller temporary tank. They seem to be enjoying the new space. I've set the light intensity very low. The PAR according to a SenEye is about 20 at the substrate. So far this has meant slow growth but no melting.

16085518091_84a7c5d540.jpgPC230351 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Right side: -
15900133150_a0a0b66fb1.jpgPC230359 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
15900124520_4b09c85e28.jpgPC230355 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

FTS: -
15899952168_2bc73860c5.jpgPC230343 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Just RGB LEDs: -
16061601606_b10110fc80.jpgPC230348 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Merry Christmas, Veselé Vánoce

P
 
Looks very Nice. keep posting please. Also a closeup of fish and plants would be great as well.

Cheers
 
Thanks guys. Some history first. I started this aquarium August 2013 and cut my teeth with it on things such as pH profiles and EI dosing. Looking back, just under a year ago, it was as good as I could manage.

Feb 2014, Eheim surface skimmer seems to help a lot
15490557613_9e1cdd44ff.jpgP2233466 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Managed to grow Rotala macrandra that had melted in its 1-2-Grow! pot: -
15924179669_ca16045b8c.jpgP2233478 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Finally I actually had a carpet! (Micranthemum sp. 'Monte Carlo'): -
16084476846_9ab2101196.jpgP3223517 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Ammania sp. 'Bonsai': -
16108350601_b79066824e.jpgP3233530 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

March 2014, for various reasons it went downhill from here: -
15924198249_0a1e60a2b0.jpgP3233539 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Those various reasons I guess were-

Lack of trimming skills.
Experimenting with higher light.
Maybe warmer spring weather and more sunshine hitting the aquarium.
After experimenting with different needle valves, the regulator started to output a fluctuating working pressure.

Anyway, I was desperate for a fresh start and to use the lessons learned.

Cheers,

P
 
Looks nice! It like these rocks, are they lava rock? I'm looking for something similar for future setups which doesn't make my water harder (I only use tap water with GH +24 and KH 10)

Jordi
 
So, a post on starting this current setup.


The sand substrate from before had to go. It just was always dirty with algae on the glass. BBA even used to grow on individual sand grains, looking like little spiky fur-balls. Underneath the sand was some old ADA Aqua Soil and some lava rocks. However, this didn't actually help the slope keep it's shape and I was dreading getting it all out.

It took me a whole Friday evening until the early hours of the next morning. Then I left it till the next day to be sure I really had everything cleaned nicely. Once I was sure every little grain of sand was gone, in went 27 litres of Tropica Aquarium Soil.

I didn't hang about in putting in the hard scape. Simply lava rock. Sure I could have got creative and used more, gluing it into fancy constructions... but I'm still learning to grow plants and didn't want too much flow obstruction.

16119755201_318583ecb8.jpgPB307381 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


December 3rd. Just planted
15932962450_5c34818c84.jpgPC037397 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Left side with SS outlet, inlet pipe/skimmer
15934237119_f20d399341.jpgPC037398 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Right side. We have a slope!
15500549683_d83f81455a.jpgPC037404 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Filling up. Tropica soil really didn't dirty the water.
15497964184_398b0fb516.jpgPC037406 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


December 4th, after water change.
15932999180_5eb3edd5ff.jpgPC047408 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Looking at this photo from the second day, even with just 20 PAR, all the plants have grown nicely since then.

Cheers,

P
 
Update: 4 weeks after planting

Fish have been in for one week now. Had a few quiet post-Christmas days to do a pH profile and look at the fish behaviour. The profile looks OK but the fish spend a lot of time at the surface during the last few hours of CO2 addition, even though the pH seems to be pretty stable at this time.

15958858408_26749127c2.jpgpH profile 29-12 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

To get the pH readings I leave a pH meter propped on the rear right corner of the aquarium and turn it on every hour. I guess in this spot the CO2 level must be low compared to other places lower down from the surface. I think I'll have to reduce the CO2 bubble count to have healthier happier fish.

pH meter on the right: -
16144333031_e593023b2a.jpgPC290407 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Looks nice from up top.
16145493892_20a159acef.jpgPC290408 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Pogostemon erectus is slow for a stem plant but seems to be doing OK.
15523913964_86959e0fa4.jpgPC290417 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

15958952970_48cda96bf8.jpgPC290419 by pepedopolous, on Flickr


Thanks for looking,

P
 
Hi, it's a Voltcraft PHT-02 which you can buy from the Conrad on-line store. It's reliable but it doesn't automatically turn off which means that sometimes I've accidentally let the batteries run out... If I had the chance again I would maybe buy a Hanna and something with a probe that you can place anywhere in the water.

P
 
Hi guys,

It's been 6 weeks now so far. Still going slow and steady. Not massive growth but no algae to speak of either even though I've increased the light a little and tweaked the CO2 to keep the fish happy. The pH decrease is pretty much exactly 1 unit. The Tanichthys micagemmae still seem to hang around on the surface a lot though.

I think the Ludwigia 'Super Red' and Staurogyne repens are still slowly transitioning to emersed form as I do find quite a few leaves each day stuck to the Koralia or skimmer. For this reason I've pointed the Koralia as far down as it will go, more or less point blank at the middle patch of Staurogyne.

Anyway, got a bit trigger happy with the camera earlier so pics below: -


16117274049_b60ae691f1.jpgP1170511r by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16117281939_5c24769ab0.jpgP1170514 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

15681102034_36d926d3f5.jpgP1170518 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16277581706_92c63c91c2.jpgP1170519 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16301715491_015755a001.jpgP1170520 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16116124830_0761c5d58c.jpgP1170521 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16277568466_b57fc1af15.jpgP1170522 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16115890878_d818d94026.jpgP1170523 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16277564046_9e28ce7e50.jpgP1170524 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

15681076054_ebfa13266f.jpgP1170525 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

15683607733_191da78a2a.jpgP1170526 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

15683603013_849020fabd.jpgP1170527 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16117591577_fe30efe761.jpgP1170528 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16117300769_659c472e70.jpgP1170529 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16302584932_de00eec2b0.jpgP1170533 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16277546186_a2a08d5923.jpgP1170535 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16117323889_07083d6c61.jpgP1170536 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16116089840_126238ccfc.jpgP1170537 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16117610067_b58b284788.jpgP1170538 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

16116080960_2cbbb19dae.jpgP1170539 by pepedopolous, on Flickr

Cheers,

P
 
Slow, steady (and impatient!)!


Why do I punish myself with Staurogyne repens in every set up?! In this tank it is in several different locations and each plant now seems to have lost loads of the lower leaves. I can't seem to turn it around. It can only get worse!

None of the other plant species (e.g. Micranthemum sp. 'Monte Carlo'), show any problems. The 'Monte Carlo' continues to spread out, the Pogostemon erectus looks great and is getting taller each week. I still have no algae whatsoever on the rocks or plants, and just the tiniest amount of 'stuff' on the glass in the places where I miss with the algae scraper (plastic card!).

For the main group of Staurogyne in the back middle I have the Koralia Nano circulation pump pointing straight at it (though there's a bit of Microsorum in the way).

I have a Eheim 350T filter with minimal media (1050 lph) plus the Koralia at 900 lph. Plenty of surface agitation from a skimmer on the filter inlet. Plus the outlet creates a vortex. CO2 is injected using an UP inline diffuser. For 8 hours the aquarium is lemonade is every corner!

CO2 on: 12:00 pH = 6.8
Lights on: 14:00 pH = 5.8
CO2 off: 20:00 pH = 5.8
Lights off: 22:00
KH = 5
EI ferts (aquariumplantfood.co.uk)
Easycarbo 5ml per day

Even with a 1 pH unit drop, my Vietnamese minnows seem to suffer a bit from acidosis (unless they just are simply enjoying the flow coming out of the outlet)...

For the first few weeks the LED lights produced 20 PAR at the substrate level. I've since increased the light a notch but we're still talking low light here.

As these Staurogyne have been planted for only about 7 weeks in a light-limited aquarium, I guess the problem might simply be that even now, older emersed leaves are being 'sacrificed'. However, it is painful to watch. I'm seriously thinking about increasing the light to speed up whatever is going on!

I can see that the Staurogyne has really deep roots going right down to the very bottom of the aquarium. I guess another option might be a severe trim, but can a plant really grow from just the roots and a bit of stem alone?

:confused:P:arghh:
 
Thanks, Greenfinger2!

To be honest, I'm not sure if the problem I have is the classic 'melting'... the Staurogyne still seems to be growing healthy leaves at the top, just the bottom leaves are dropping off. I'll try and post some before/after pics after work tomorrow.

Thanks again,

P
 
Hi P

Well, 20 PAR on the substrate is not a lot of light, I would say it is low light... I guess you have a PAR meter so you can know what you are doing and you can try to play a bit harder and try to have at least 40 PAR. I'm saying this because when my Staurogyne grows shaded by other plants it doesn't grow so well. Now I have them in the front of the tank with all the (moderate) light on them. Of course, your CO2 and flow must be perfect... In that sense not sure if 1 ph drop is enough for a so low KH... But your DC will be saying something also which may be interesting to know and the other plants seem to do well.
Of course the best way to do when you have poor growing with this plant is trim it very hard. No need to leave anything on the substrate (there is a Tom Barr video in which he trims S. repens, very instructive). If the root system is well developed and the conditions in your tank good enough, you should have plenty of new and healthy shoots in a few weeks.

Jordi
 
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